This amazing book has recently come to my attention, and it's well worth giving it kudos for highlighting a timely issue. I've mentioned before how much Pam Montgomery's book Plant Spirit Healing has added to my own understanding of how plants are conscious beings that heal on physical, emotional and spiritual levels. Montgomery includes a lot of scientific evidence to support her recognition of the sentience of plants and their healing powers, while Zoë Schlanger's The Light Eaters looks at the subject from a bit of a different perspective.
Interestingly enough, they both come to similar conclusions about the importance of this topic.
Schlanger, a"climate journalist"who writes for The Atlantic magazine, describes her personal epiphany in recognizing the mounting evidence that plants are conscious and communicative beings, and how she herself has found both inspiration and consolation in nature, specifically in the plants and trees around her.
In this innovative book, she tells her readers what she and an increasing number of scientists have discovered about the intelligence of plant life and what drove her to shift her "weary apocalyptic attention" away from dwelling so heavily on the dismal subject of an environmental crisis that has dominated her work for the last decade. "There is only so much of this that one person can take," she says, "Or perhaps my tolerance was worn thin and easily worn out after years of focus on droughts and floods."
Much of the book describes her interviews, conversations and hands on explorations with a number professionals who belong to the relatively new community of plant scientists and neuro-biologists. After several years of such intensive study and personal ruminations, she now has an altered perspective on the behavioral characteristics of plants-- their adaptability and how they function harmoniously within their own ecosystems. This different way of embracing the plant kingdom has replaced pessimism with a more life affirming viewpoint on the future of our planet.
This post is meant to be a celebration of The Light Eaters rather than a critique. However, after doing a combination of reading and skimming, I can confidently say that the author discusses the subject extensively and with a sense of wonder and unbiased humility.
There are a number of quotable gems that illustrate the author's though process. One that stands out comes from her final chapter where she advises readers that an interactive kinship with the our fellow green beings calls for rethinking former beliefs and adopting new approaches:
Respect comes with a certain responsibility of care, of maintaining a good relationship. Plant personhood may be something we have to teach ourselves, and perhaps we initially strain to see it. But once seen, the care part of that new awareness comes quite naturally. You might find you respect the autonomy of plants not because you know you 'should,' but because you know you must. Because doing otherwise would violate your own personhood. It is a bridge to cross, from plant disregard to plant regard. The distance between the two is the orientation of one's heart on the subject.
There's so much to commend in this book, but what really blew me away was the timing of its publication-- the early spring of 2024. This was around the same time that I became more deeply immersed in the subject and made it a part of my own plant medicine work. Coincidence?
I don't think so.
The reception of The Light Eaters has been promising. Favorable testimonies illustrate how rethinking our relationship to the plant world seems to be an idea that is rapidly moving into mainstream channels, on both scientific and personal levels. As I explore the topic myself, I continue to see more and more evidence of this. You might say it's in the air-- infectious in a good way. The author and I both anticipate this contagion will eventually prompt others to make the leap in awareness that she describes in her book.
"Now when I spot a tendril that is making its way through a crack in the sidewalk," she says, "I internally commend it for its resourcefulness."
At the end of this book, she gives the reader a summary of how her research and open minded approach has been a life altering experience, leaving her with a more optimistic outlook: "Rather than seeing a march toward doom, as I did as a disaffected office worker writing the news," she concludes, "I now see a boundless sea of change."
You go girl!
2021 photo of the author of "The Light Eaters" taken in Hawaii
I hope I'm on to something when I suggest that it's only a matter of time when this "change" includes the idea that if plants have consciousness and intelligence as humans and animals do, it follows that they have spirits as well. I see this book as a big step toward recognizing the potential for plant medicine that allows individuals to experience personal inner transformation that will eventually bring about collective healing on a planetary level.
Whether (or not) you are into plants or natural science (or both), I encourage you to consider adding such an informative and enlightening work to your reading list or recommend The Light Eaters to anyone who would benefit from having it on theirs.
As always, thanks for letting me share my thoughts and journey with you. I welcome your input, so if you want to submit a comment, scroll down to the bottom of this post. If you are interested in booking a personal session, you can do this here:
You can also contact me via email at: my.plant.allies@gmail.com
For now, here's wishing you wellness, wisdom and bloomin' vibes!
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